What's Wrong With The World Today? - Lack of Social Interaction

     I was walking along today and you want to know what I saw?

A little bit of this.

And a little bit of that ...

And a few cases of this ...

     People are consistently cutting themselves off from the world around them. They are disconnected and far off from humanity. It may be because people are increasingly more wary of society, in general ... Or maybe it's just because people have lost the ability to interact with each other --- at least in the face-to-face context because we all know that we are plenty connected via our cell phones and our email and our Facebooks! Heck, I know some people who talk to each other more via their xBox consoles than they do in person ... and it makes me kind of sad to know that.

     Face-to-Face interaction is an important part of development for children and teens, as well as an important part of life for adults. We all need human contact and when we are walking around consistently cut off, with our headphones in and our cell phones on, we are not getting the chance to interact with people. I was walking to a new gym the other day (or let's say trying to get to the gym) because I couldn't find my way ... and there was basically nothing I could do. I WANTED to ask directions from someone along the way but I literally passed by three or four people who were making themselves unavailable to outsiders. 

     And then we all wonder why so many people are complaining about loneliness ... Well, maybe it's because we don't know how to meet people. I heard about one girl who went running every night with her iPod and the one night she forgot it, she stopped to look out on the waterfront, and it just so happened that a guy stopped too. They started talking and ....... No, sorry, no fairytale ending, but still ... At least they started talking and they were interacting with each other and they went out a few times. 

     Meeting people. Going out. Living life. That's what it's all about. That's what we need to be doing. We need to interact with each other to learn about each other. That's how we will grow as a country and as a nation. That's how we will learn to accept differences and make changes that need to be made. And to think it can all start with taking out the dang ear buds for a few minutes a day!

It's been awhile. I know I shouldn't have kept you waiting but I'm here now ... Oh, looks like we're alone now. You ain't gotta be scared, we're grown now. I'ma hit defrost on you. Let's get it blazin'. We can turn the heat up if you wanna. Turn the lights down low if you wanna. Just wanna move you but you're frozen. That's what I'm saying - Let me break the ice! (Break The Ice, Britney Spears)